Market opening and international negotiations

Argentina's foreign policy is aimed at enhancing agreements in force and entering into new agreements with new business partners. Negotiations are aimed at expanding and diversifying our exports, as well as at stimulating investment and competitiveness through better insertion of our economy into global production chains. The search for better market access conditions includes all five continents, exploiting our potential in developed and emerging markets, for both agricultural and manufactured products.

In the last two years, pre-existing agreements have been reinforced, such as the MERCOSUR-Colombia Economic Complementarity Agreement (ACE 72), which will allow Argentina to export up to 42,000 automobiles per year, and the negotiation of a new Argentina-Chile economic agreement within the framework of the MERCOSUR-Chile Agreement (ACE 35). The new agreement includes, improves and strengthens complementarity in sectors such as services, investments, government procurement, environment, gender and telecommunications. In addition, bilateral work is being carried out for the expansion of Economic Complementarity Agreement N° 6 with Mexico.

As a member of MERCOSUR, Argentina has strongly promoted an intense negotiation agenda. This includes the conclusion of the postponed Association Agreement with the European Union, and the launch of negotiations with EFTA (September 2017), Canada (March 2018), and South Korea (May 2018). Negotiations have also commenced in order to strengthen the fixed-preference agreement with India and conclude agreements with Morocco and Tunisia. Exploratory negotiations with Singapore and New Zealand are at an advanced stage. MERCOSUR is also strengthening its ties with Japan, India, Australia and ASEAN. Moreover, important talks have been held between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance, based on an agenda focused on concrete actions for stronger integration.

Considering ongoing trade negotiations and the markets with which new negotiations are being sought, Argentine producers will have, a decade from now, trade agreements granting access under favourable conditions to markets representing 50% of world GDP.

In addition, Argentina promotes foreign direct investment through a favourable economic environment and the creation of proper institutional conditions. Within this framework, in recent years last-generation bilateral trade agreements have been entered into with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and an investment chapter has been included in the free trade agreement with Chile. Agreements are also being negotiated with Japan, Singapore, India, Mexico, EFTA and Canada.

This is the contribution made by the trade component of foreign policy to the consolidation of institutionality. Clear rules and transparency promote access to new and larger markets that will attract productive investment and create real jobs, improving the quality of life of Argentine citizens and reducing poverty.

With respect to market access, support is given to health and phytosanitary negotiations in traditional and new markets, in order to allow for a greater variety of agricultural and agro-industrial products produced in Argentina to be exported to all the regions of the world.

For example, during 2017 and 2018, Latin America and Asia opened several markets of great importance for Argentine exports such as beef, lemons, blueberries, oranges and wheat.

After six years of exclusion, in 2017 Argentina returned to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for exports to the United States, which will allow for a significant number of products of our regional economies to enter the American market at zero tariff.

In addition, in a context of additional tariffs being imposed by the United States on global imports of steel and aluminium, Argentina is one of the four countries that has managed to preserve tariff-free access to the American market for a substantial part of its exports to the country.